Ambiente

Another excellent spot for those who like to share is Ambiente. This urban tapas restaurant resides in a Grade II listed ex-warehouse on The Calls and its colourful interior expertly blends old and new. Ambiente serves small plates of meat, fish and seafood with plenty of choice for vegans and vegetarians, too. You can try creamy baked mushrooms topped with a manchego crumb, or crispy ‘Sham-Bas’: plant-based prawns in a light batter. Ambiente’s Leeds restaurant also has its own Josper charcoal oven, which is used to cook up delicious dishes like Oloroso sherry-braised beef rib or Chistorra y Fideau – pan fried cured sausage accompanied by roast cherry tomatoes and fideau, topped with manchego and truffle. If you have any room left, you’ll also find some exciting desserts here. These include Spanish almond cake with an orange and vanilla syrup, or PX sherry raisin ice cream.

Shears Yard

Situated in an old rope factory, Shears Yard makes an intimate and atmospheric destination for a winter date thanks to its exposed brick walls and mood lighting. This ‘modern European’ brings together classic and more unusual flavour combinations, which can be experienced to the full through its tasting menu. Alternatively, you can dine à la carte, choosing from starters like pumpkin mulligatawny or dry aged beef tartare. You can follow these with a Creedy Carver duck breast in black pepper gravy, accompanied by toasted corn, dill pickle relish and smoked mash, or plaice fillets poached in dashi butter with a seaweed and caper dressing, smashed potatoes and cucumber. To top it off, Shears Yard’s desserts include a blonde chocolate and miso crème brûlée or lemon and stem ginger posset.

Empire Cafe

Tucked away down Fish Street, the cosy and bijou Empire Cafe specialises in simple-yet-delicious rotisserie chicken, but there are many other inventive dishes on its menu, too. These include toast and bone marrow butter with a caper and parsley salad, or a beautifully-presented duck eclair. If you’re going to try the chicken, which is cooked on a ‘wall of flame’ spit, you get to choose your own lather and crumb from options such as smoked garlic and hot honey or umami miso and soy. You can also add a side of tasty chicken schmaltz potatoes. These sit in a tray below the roasting chicken, soaking up all of the flavour. As you’d expect, the Empire also offers unique desserts like an olive oil ice cream and filo sandwich with ruby chocolate cremeux.

Flat Iron

The London-born steak restaurant’s first northern branch is now open in Leeds in the building on Lands Lane that used to be the Church Institute. This historic setting creates a dramatic backdrop against which to enjoy an evening of grown-up dining. Flat Iron’s founder, Charlie Carroll, is on a mission to make remarkable steak available to everyone, and sustainably-sourced British meat is central to the menu here. All of the restaurant’s steak is carefully selected and some of it comes from its own herd, which is based near Thirsk. You can opt for the signature Flat Iron steak with your choice of sauce, or ask your server for the cut of the day. These can be paired with sides such as crispy bone marrow garlic mash, homemade beef dripping chips, or creamed spinach. Alternatively, you can enjoy specials like a triple cheese truffle burger.

Heaney & Mill

Boasting an interesting past, Heaney & Mill inhabits a former family-owned photography studio in Headingley that was turned into an eaterie in 2017. This restaurant and cocktail bar serves an excellent Sunday lunch as well as bottomless brunches on Saturdays. At other times, you can take your pick from starters such as 12-hour slow-roasted spiced lamb belly with salsa verde and confit garlic Greek yoghurt, or burrata provençal accompanied by homemade brioche, pesto, preserved summer vegetables and peperonata. These can then be followed by mains like roast venison haunch with maple cured bacon, salt baked celeriac and smoked Jerusalem artichoke puree, or sea bass and garlic prawns in a classic shellfish sauce.

Ox Club

Located in Headrow House, the award-winning Ox Club serves contemporary British food that showcases local produce. In its light and airy dining space, you can sit down and sample imaginative dishes made with ingredients from small Yorkshire producers, including fresh fruit and veg from Wellocks, fish from Hodgson of Hartlepool and meat from Swaledale. These are prepared in a live fire kitchen. You can start your meal at Ox Club with small plates like grilled peach, burrata, nasturtium and pickled fennel, or smoked mackerel with heirloom tomatoes and green beans in a burnt shallot dressing. Bigger plates include miso-glazed aubergine with pak choi, rice cake and furikake, or lamb loin with slow cooked lamb pastilla. You can then move on to tempting puddings such as a burnt Basque cheesecake or baked Alaska made with the ice cream of the day.

Brasserie Blanc

Founded by famed chef Raymond Blanc, this French restaurant in the Victoria Mill serves seasonal food that is ‘honest, affordable and cooked with heart’. In its stylish industrial dining area that overlooks the River Aire, you and your date can get cosy and experience a taste of autumn together. The restaurant’s current menu includes starters like celeriac fondant, or escargots in a garlic and herb butter. These can be followed by exquisitely-presented mains such as an eight hour slow-cooked shoulder of Highland venison with pommes mousseline, blackberries and sauce grand veneur, or a classic moules mariniere made with British mussels. You can then enjoy signature desserts such as the ‘autumn still life’, which features chestnut and coffee parfait, meringue, frosted pecan, vanilla and cocoa tuile, arranged on the plate in a way that captures the magic of a woodland foraging trip.

Images- @brasserieblancleeds, @friendsofham, @ambientetapas